Refrigerator door or lid



Dec. 9, 1952 c. H. KAFER REFRIGERATOR DOOR OR LID 2 SHEETS-SHEET 1 FiledOct. 27, 1948 Dec. 9, 1952 c. H. KAFER REFRIGERATOR DOOR OR LID 2SHEETSSHEET 2 Filed Oct. 27, 1948 CJcITe H. Jfaf e1",

' a WK meg Patented Dec. 9, 1952 TENT OFFICE REFRIGERATOR DOOR R LIDClaregfl. Kafer, Palmyra, Mich., assignor to. Revco, Inc.,.Deerfield,,Mich..

Application October 2-7, 1948, Serial No.- 56,725

2 Claims.

Thisjnventiorr relates ,toamovable cover meme ber, such as a door orlid, which isparticularly applica'blegto.refrigeratedcabinets, and it-isparticularly.--concerned-j'with; a: closureimember havinaskettoseal'zthe joint betweenthe door and. the; box opening, togetherwith cooperating means :to retain the; door intrue alignment- It-hasaheretofore been proposed; and it has becomeaa; common, practice in theart, to form. door onlidtmembersfor refrigerated cabinets as shallow.sheet metal pans in which insulating material issplaced-to preventheat;losses, and'to close the open inner face of the panby a plate or liner.It is. also-conventional practice to place strips of rubber or likeresilient material along the inner edgesaof the door, sothat,uponclosing the door against; the; casing; edges of the cabinet, a seal.will ;be pro,vided to-.prevent leakage of air around thesjointiProblems-havebeen presented, however, due to'difliculty in providing agasket which efiectivelyseals'thedoor around its entire perim-- eter:Other problems are involved in retaining the-door; in. a square: ortrue, shape, as the door pantends to warp out of shape, and'correctivesin: the-1 form of'reinforcing frames have unduly increasedboth weightand cost.

According. to the present invention, there is provided a cabinet closurehaving a continuous marginal .flangeto which a continuous gasketelementisapplied, which gasket is retained in tight engagement: at allpointsby means of sealing clips-andqanchors. A practically perfect sealis therebyobtained against the cabinet face, and also between.therinterior and exterior portions of the: door, to prevent heatexchangeand moisture seepage.

The .meansemployed forsealingthe gasket to theedoor espeoiallyat itscorners, is .moreover so formed that itmay be utilized as a membercooperating tohold thedoor panin its intended squareor true shape, thusovercoming warping or di's'torting forces Which would tend 'to separatethepgas ket-irom the door and thereby adversely affect its utility;

Other-"and further objects of Y theinvention', and theeadvantages to bederived from the practice thereof; will'b'ecome-apparent from the.following detailed" description of. a preferred, embodiment,illustratediin: the zaccompanying drawings, where- FE-ig, .11 is. a;front elevation; of adoor, particularly. adapted -.-as. a-lid, for. atopopening; cabinet, such.=as;=a deep, freezer. or: food storage chest;

Eig, 2..is.a;.bottom plan. ofjthedoor Eig 3*is' a fragmentary side,elevationof, the door;

Fig; his a fragmentary -bottomhview, ,on an en larged; scale, ofthe;dooryshowninFigsz land-1,2,2. with, portions at. several cornersremovedi. or:- brokenaway-at difierent elevations,,in: order to: showthe; details ofeonstruction,andassembly;

Figs; 5' and. 6; arev fragmentary sections re.- spectively taken. on;the: lines; Fa -5 and; 66'-. of- Fig, 3.;

Fig. 7 is: a-: perspective of; a corner-gusset andgasket retainingplate; and,-,

Fig. 8 is a perspective; of; a.- tie; rod retaining;

the opposite side.. The open face of' the pan,-

which constitutes the-insiderof the door,,is covered by. alinerl5,andthe perimeter of thepan:

and the-liner arecovered by acontinuouszgasket' it? of rubber or otherresilient material, adapted to seal the jointbetween the door and thecabinet to which it is applied. The-instant door is also-shownas'hav-ingan electriclight casing ll on the. liner. l5, whose service and|8-1eadsthrough a switch l9 which is open when the door. is shut, andclosed when the door is open. Thespace, Within the pan isadap-tecl toreceive any suitable insulating? material, so as to minimizeheattransier betweenthe interior of the cabinetv andthe outside air.Doors of this nature are adapted tobeused: as horizontal lids for foodstorage chests, or. -as vertically mounted doors. on

the customary. domestic refrigerator cabinets.,

Referring next to Figs. 4, 5, and 6, the side walls- !2 of thedoor panare bent to provide relatively wide inwardly projecting flanges 21alongthe perimeter and. between the door corners, and

relatively narrow inwardly projecting flanges 22 at the corners: Whoseinner edges are curved to' follow the contour of the pan corners. Thewide flanges?! are stopped a slight distance fromathepoints. where thecurved pan corners merge into the straight sides E2, to providesector-shaped cutawayportions 23, as will .be clearly apparent from thelower left corner view in Fig. 4. Cutting away the, corners,andemploying. a narrowflange. 22;.faci1itates the formation of thepanwithout the development of unsightly wrinkles in.

the metal, which would detract from the appearance of the door.

Each corner sector23 receives aigussetplate-or. bracket, 25,. the,specific formation. of Whichis clearlyshownin Fig.7.. The .plate.consistsof a.

sheet metal stamping having an upper step or ledge 26 whose outer edgeis curved to follow the corner contour, and which merges through a riser2'! into a lower step or ledge 28 which is similarly curved. A secondriser 29 merges into a bracket 3| having a substantially circular outermargin, and disposed substantially parallel to the steps 26 and 28. Thebracket 3| is also formed with two slots 32 and 33, angularly disposedor out of parallelism with each othe and for a purpose which willpresently appear.

The plate 25 is positioned over the sector 23 so that the extremities ofthe step 28 engage the ends of the adjacent wide flanges 2|, while thestep 26 is positioned above and is slightly spaced from the narrowcorner flange 22 by the riser 21. This arrangement is shown particularlyin the upper left coner in Fig, 4, and also in Fig. 5. From these views,it will also be seen that the bracket section 3| is disposed below theelevation of the flanges 2| and 22, and that it projects inwardly towardthe diagonally opposite corner of the pan. Each plate 25 is secured tothe flanges 2| by spot welding, as indicated by the reference numeral34, thus integrating the assembly and increasing its over-all strength.

Diagonally disposed cross ties extend from the brackets 3| along thefront edge l2 of the pan to the opposite corner alon the rear edge, inorder to square the door and retain it from distortion, It is, ofcourse, practical to connect these straps to opposed brackets 3| whenthe door is fabricated, but it is preferred to include some means ofadjustment and rectification after complete assembly, and thereforeadditional means are provided at the rear corners for this purpose.

The two cross tie members may take the form of thin, heat treated, sheetmetal straps 35, 35a, each of which is connected to its associatedbracket 3| at the front corner of the pan. At the front left corner, asviewed in Fig. 4, the strap 35 is bent or looped through the slot 32 andis secured on itself by crimping a metal clamp 36 around the overlappingportions, At the front right corner, wherein the plate 25 is shown indotted lines beneath the liner IS, th companion strap 35a is similarlyconnected, except that its end is bent through the slot 33, instead ofthe slot 32. It will be seen from comparison of the two corners that, ineach case, the strap is passed through that slot which is normal to thediagonal, and the two slots are so positioned that one or the otherbecomes normal to the diagonal as the plate is moved from one corner tothe other. Accordingly, in each instance, the bight of the strap engagesits associated slot over its entire surface, and shearing forces tendinto cut the strap at the bight are thereby eliminated.

The provision of the two slots, respectively normal to the diagonals atthe adjacent corners, enables the plates 25 to be assembled in anycorner without prior selection and matching. The angularity between thetwo slots is so chosen, of

course, as to satisfy the criterion of normality, and this angularlywill depend upon the ratio of the long and short sides of the pan, whichin left corners by anchor members 4|, such as is shown in Figs. 4, 5,and 8. The anchor consists of a sheet metal stamping having an inwardlyextending flange 42, corrugated or beaded with ribs 43 to increase itsresistance to distortion, and formed with a slot 44 adapted to receivethe end of the strap 35 or 35a which is bent through the slot, and issecured with a clamp 36. The anchor further includes a depending flange45, medially formed with an aperture to receive a headed nut 46, sopositioned that the body of the nut projects toward the corner, whilethe head engages the flange on its inner side to prevent separation. Ascrew 4'! of suitable length extends through an aperture 48 drilled atthe corner, and it may obviously be drawn up to increase the tension onthe associated strap, andjthereby pull the sides l2 of the pan intoright angled relation. If the pan should, during use, warp slightly outof true, it is a simple matter to increase or decrease the tension onone or both straps, thereby rectifying the V misalignment.

The apertures 43 are drilled on lines coinciding with the longitudinalaxes of the straps, or along the true diagonals, and the slot 44 isformed at right angles to the longitudinal axis of the nut 46.

Accordingly, the bight of the strap passing through the slot 44 willengage over the entire surface, irrespective of which corner is referredto. Ience, it is unnecessary to form the anchors 4| with angularlydisposed slots, and the correction for angular diiferences is made byproper location of the apertures 48.

After the pan has been'equipped with the gussets, cross braces, andanchors, and has been squared, it is ready to receive the gasket l6,which has a generally rectilinear shape following the contour of thepan, and whose dimensions are only slightly less in length and width.The gasket [6 is continuous, and it may be molded from rubber or othersuitable resilient material. It consists of a connector section 5| whoseWidth is slightly less than that of the flange 2| or 22, and whichsection is directly laid on the flanges 2| and 22. A hinge section 52disposed at the outer edge of the gasket merges into a half roundsection 53 overlying the section 5|, and which may be made hollow ifdesired, to increase the resilience and sealing properties. Theconnector section 5| is securely retained on the flanges 2| by means ofchannel members 55, having lengths approximately equal to the distancesbetween adjacent edges of the sectors 23, the arms of which respectivelyengage the inner surfaces of the flanges 2!, and the surface of theconnector 5| directly below the section 53.

After being positioned in a rather loose manner, in order to facilitateassembly, the arms of the clips 55 are forced together by applying acompressing or pinching tool of any suitable type, thereby locking thegasket to the flanges 2| and practically covering and obscuring theconnector section 5| of the gasket. Thoseportions of the section 5| notcovered by the clips 55 are located, of course, at the pan corners, andthese pass under the steps 26 of the gussets 25, entering the clearancegaps provided by the risers 27. In order to accommodate the connectorsection 5| to the difference in width of the flanges 2| and 22, the

corner portions may be cut away, as is shown in V a suitable toolagainst the adjacent sections 5|,

thereby securely connecting the gasket at the corners, as well as alongthe edges l2.

It will thus be seen that the gasket "3 is sealed to the door panthroughout its entire perimeter, including the curved comer portions,and that it cannot be readily pried away at any point. Suchsubstantially continuous sealing and joining is highly advantageous toprevent entrance of moisture into the interior of the pan, where itspresence could generate odors and corrosion. It is further to be notedthat the result is obtained with a simple and inexpensive construction.

After the gasket It has been assembled, the liner I5 is inserted tocomplete the structure. The liner is in the form of a sheet of suitablematerial, such as plastic or the like, and it is assembled by pullingback the sealing section 53 of the gasket [6 about the hinge section 52.The liner I5 is retained against the outer arm of the channels 55 by thepressure exerted by the sealing section 53, and which is sufiicient todiscourage efforts of unskilled users to dislodge it. The engagement ofthe section 53 is suflicient to secure the liner IS with some freedom ofmovement parallel to the flanges 2| and 22, to compensate fortemperature changes, the smooth surfaces between the liner and channels55 reducing the total friction to enable such movement to take place. Ifdesired, however, additional securing means may be provided throughapertures 51 (Fig. 6), disposed around the margins of the liner.

It will be seen that by providing the stepped corner gussets 25, the pancorners are reinforced, and means are provided to seal the gasket Hi tothe door and to retain the door in alignment. It will also be noticedthat provision has been made to locate the cross tie members 35 and 35aon true diagonals, thereby framing the door in such manner as to insuremaximum rigidity. It will, of course, be understood that while theinvention has been described with respect to a single embodiment, it issusceptible of numerous modifications and variations without departurefrom its principles, and its scope as set forth in the following claims.

I claim:

1. A refrigerator door comprising a pan having a front, depending sides,and inwardly projecting flanges extending from said sides around theperimeter of the door, said flanges at the corners of the door being ofless width than the flanges between said corners, gusset plates securedto the wider flanges adjacent said corners, said gusset plates havingelevated steps overlying the flanges at the corners and following thecontour thereof, a continuous gasket having a connector sectionpositioned on said flanges, the portions of the connector section atsaid corners underlying said elevated steps, channel shaped clampspositioned along the wider flanges over substantially the entiredistance between the corners and engaging over the connector sectiontherebetween, said elevated steps and clamps being compressed againstthe connector section to retain said gasket in substantially continuousengagement with said flanges around the perimeter of the door, and aliner positioned over said plates and clamps to close the cavity formedby said depending sides.

2. A refrigerator door comprising a rectilinear sheet metal pan having afront, depending sides, and inwardly projecting flanges extending fromthe sides around the perimeter of the pan, said pan and sides havingcurved corners, the inwardly projecting flanges being partially cut awayat said corners, a continuous gasket positioned on said flanges aroundthe perimeter of the pan and having curved corner portions conforming tothe contour of the pan corners, gusset plates secured to the inwardlyprojecting flanges at said corners, said plates having raised stepportions overlying the flanges at said corners and said steps having rimportions also curved to conform to the contour of the pan and gasketcorners, said gasket corners being positioned under said steps andretained thereby, the curved rims of the steps engaging the curvedcorner portions of the gasket thereby to retain the corner portions ofthe gasket in perimetral alignment with the pan, and additional meansbetweenthe corners of the pan and gasket to retain said gasket againstsaid flanges.

CLARE H. KAFER.

REFERENCES CITED The following references-are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 2,264,536 Kuenzli Dec. 2, 19412,339,566 Goulooze Jan. 18, 1944 2,347,090 Drake Apr. 18, 1944 2,379,193Shields June 26, 1945 2,432,563 Drake Dec. 16, 1947 2,551,369 FrohnapelMay 1, 1951

